Rusty Wallace Explains The Dale Earnhardt “Water Bottle Incident”

On the track, NASCAR drivers need to have nerves of steel. When piloting an ...

On the track, NASCAR drivers need to have nerves of steel. When piloting an automobile to speeds of 200 mph as they go door-to-door with one another, one false move can mean some serious consequences. Therefore, these guys need to have focus that is nearly unshakable. However, every once in a while, this demeanor might be broken after drivers get in one another’s heads. After all, a big part of racing is not only making sure that a team has the best car but also playing a mind game here and there.

Every once in a while, we pick up on an anecdote of how Dale Earnhardt was able to do this so well. It might not have been a massive ordeal sometimes but could potentially play out in advantageous ways for number three that competitors might have never even noticed. However, at the end of the day, Senior became a legend not only with his physical driving ability but being able to perform well in pretty much every other aspect of the sport as well. The guy was really the complete package. This is why all of these years after his death, drivers still look up to him as a role model of a competitor.

This time, we join in on a story from longtime competitor of Earnhardt in Rusty Wallace. In this one, Rusty recounts the story of how Dale and himself were going to team up to get in the head of competitor, Jeff Gordon. He recalls that the two might’ve been a little bit jealous of the shine that Jeff was taking as he burst onto the scene. They would launch a plan to join forces but shortly after, Dale showed that he had other plans. It would all end with Dale and Rusty in the pits and a water bottle being thrown in a story that is simply too juicy to turn down.